Tools & Delivery

Jammer's Review

Star Trek: The Next Generation

"The Icarus Factor"

Air date: 4/24/1989
Teleplay by David Assael & Robert L. McCullough
Story by David Assael
Directed by Robert Iscove

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

When Starfleet offers Riker his own ship and command, they send his father, Kyle Riker (Mitchell Ryan), to brief him on the new mission. The two haven't spoken in 15 years, and Riker has little desire to start now. Meanwhile, Worf's mood is noticeably brooding, even for him.

"The Icarus Factor" has a certain amount of guts because it doesn't have a plot in the traditional sense and instead puts its trust solely in characters getting the job done. It's not a great show, and hardly one of the series' most memorable, but I think it's a good one. Kyle Riker is portrayed here as a well-intended father who is being made to pay by his son for his past mistakes as a parent. Wil Riker has a lot of pent-up anger over his mother, who died when he was a young child. As these sorts of family-turmoil stories go, this is a passable one that tries to see both sides and doesn't make anyone a hero or a villain but simply addresses this as a problem faced by both parties. Pulaski has her own insights, as she once was involved with Riker's father. The episode is perhaps overly optimistic in the way it depicts Riker's forgiveness so quickly at the end (either that, or their problem should've been solved years ago with one talk), but I suppose that's part of the TNG charm. Also worth mention are the Riker/Picard discussions about what it means to command a starship, even if it's not something as high-profile as the Enterprise.

More interesting is the Worf storyline, which gives still more insight into his (sometimes-insane-seeming) Klingon warrior code, and how that code exists in isolation on the Enterprise. Leave it to the Klingons to have something called "pain sticks" as part of a ritual involving the Age of Ascension (of which it's Worf's 10th anniversary). I also want to quickly mention Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney), whose profile became steadily higher throughout the second season, to the point that he exists here as a supporting character right alongside Geordi, Pulaski, and Wesley.

8 comments on this review

Icarus factor: Wow that sucked. Slow pacing, and "anbo-jitsu"? The
Enterprise has a room just for this? Couldn't they save space by leaving
this stuff to the holodeck? Seems inneficient to have a room that they
rarely ever use, but that's beside the point; Riker's dad called it: "The
ultimate evolution of the martial arts"... uhuh... its just American
gladiator with japanese characters all over the place, and blind-folded
besides. Also, what did Riker's dad do that was cheating? They never
explain that.

Speaking of weird Trek sports, does anyone else ever laugh aloud when they
see Worf leading the group in some kind of Klingon aerobics? lol I find
that so ridiculous! Kang must be rolling in his grave!

Probably part of why parises squares was never shown on film (kind of like
Vera on Cheers and Maris on Frasier) because it eventually became so hyped
as this great, dangerous game that any elaboration on what it really is
(though we did glimpe the uniforms they wear for it) would almost certainly
be a silly letdown.

I'm with Eric when he says "Wow, that sucked". It was a slow and contrived
show.

I think they had some good ideas going on. The whole thing with Riker's
not-so-perfect family was nice, and discovering that Worf is more
"sensitive" than expected is fine.

But the execution was very bad. The whole thing feels so fake. "Anbo-jitsu"
looks like anything but a real sport, or game, or anything remotely
believable. And Worf's ritual wasn't that much better, either.

At least there were some funny parts. Like when Data tries to cheer up Worf
and he gets a "BEEEGOOOONE!...sir" as an answer.

I know we shouldn't quibble about star ratings nor take them too seriously,
but you gave "The Icarus Factor" and "Family" the same *** ratings. You
don't believe they're of dramatic equal quality, do you?

Kidding, of course. As I've said time and time again, the star ratings just
sometimes get taken too seriously, and they are not absolute by any means,
especially when you have to consider the difference between a S2 episode
and a S4 episode. I did my best with the star ratings to be useful. But
sometimes they're just a burden.

I agree with most of the above posters. It's true that the episode tries
not to paint either Riker as the villain, but somehow moments like this
exchange --

Will: I've been on my own for 15 years! I think I can handle myself.
Kyle: Please, spare me the pain of your childhood. I hung in for 13 years.
If that wasn't enough it's just too bad!

-- make it hard for me to think Kyle Riker has a side that is all that much
worth hearing. The Pulaski/Kyle relationship is mostly a question mark.
The Troi/Pulaski conversation about how maybe the fact that men never grow
up is part of why they find them so attractive is pretty cringeworthy.
Mostly, the climactic catharsis-through-combat scene, while a parallel to
the Worf material, is tremendously silly in both concept -- it *is* a
cliche and not a particularly useful one -- and execution, because, jeez,
ambo-jitsu looks *so silly*. I like, too, how Kyle challenges Will to an
ambo-jitsu match before it's even been established that they used to play
that. The early material within the Riker(s) plotline isn't bad, but the
ending doesn't register to me as real at all.

The other problem is that in all the Kyle Riker material, there is no space
to deal with Riker's own decision not to take the command of the Ares.
(Ares, huh? Very violence-themed episode.) It's implied that Riker only
considered taking the job because of his father's expectations; but Riker's
driven-ness is so much a part of the character's initial conception (and
the reason given for the Riker/Troi breakup) that there needs to be more
development to establish why he refuses a command, or why he wouldn't want
him for himself. If Riker's *entire* ambition is because he internalized
his father's expectations, they would not go away just because he found out
his father cheated at ambo-jitsu. Certainly, he *likes* it on the
Enterprise, and will miss Troi and the rest of his friends and Picard. But
does that add up sufficiently to the Enterprise being the best place for
him? Fortunately for the character, The Best of Both Worlds does a much
better job at covering this issue for Riker, which is a pretty important
one given that his continued presence on the Enterprise really needs to be
explored.

On the other hand, the Worf plot *is* quite good -- The Worf plot here is
good -- in fact, it's hugely funny, in the way the crew react to Worf's
bizarre Klingon traditions with alarm but hold themselves back because it's
for his good, so...yay? The "BEGONNEEE!...sir" is also a highlight. The
C-plot in which Geordi's ego bristles at the starbase personnel is
lightweight but serviceable.

I think the Riker material is two stars, but the subplot is strong enough
to bump it up to a low 2.5 from me.

If this is a good episode, then why did the outfits Commander Riker and his
father wore for that futuristic martial arts thing remind me of Easter
Bunnies? I just could't get over the headgear, it looked like bunny ears to
me.